Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution

November 19, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 18.

Arrests

Law enforcers arrested Vital Čabatar, the vicar of Mahiloŭ’s Roman Catholic parish of St. Anthony of Padua and a provincial vice dean, on November 17, Chryścijanskaja Vizija reported. Details are yet to be revealed.

Trials

A judge in the Słonim district, Hrodna region, sentenced European Belarus campaigner Viktar Marčyk to seven days in prison for sharing “extremist content” in an online chat in 2020 and 2021, Telegram channel Sudy, Zaderzhaniya. Grodno i Oblast wrote.

On November 18, the Minsk City Court began hearing a case of discrediting Belarus and grossly disturbing public order. The defendants are former state TV journalist Źmicier Łukša and his wife Palina Pałavinka, as well as Anastasija Javorskaja, Dzianis Javorski and Kanstancin Nikanoraŭ. Łukša, Pałavinka and Javorski are in custody, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

Awakening Our Memories guitarist Alaksandr Kučarenka was sentenced to two years of restricted freedom without referral to an open-type correctional facility, a type of home confinement. Judge Taćciana Šocik of Minsk’s Leninski District Court found him guilty of gross violations of public order. Law enforcers arrested him in early August for sharing a video from YouTube channel ByPol, and opened a criminal case when he was in custody, Viasna reported.

The Hrodna District Court sentenced political prisoner Alesia Bunievič to three-and-a-half years for crossing the Belarusian border illegally. Originally, she was charged with terrorism in a “rail partisans” case, but the charge was later tweaked, Viasna reported.

The Žłobin District Court, Homiel region, sentenced local resident Viktar Čaraŭkoŭ to two years of restricted freedom for participating in a protest rally on August 9, 2020. He was accused of obstructing traffic and companies’ work, Viasna reported.

A district court sentenced Ema Ściepulonak, 69, a former Belarusian language and literature teacher from Miory, Viciebsk region, to two years in prison for insulting Alaksandr Łukašenka and a public official. The woman had been in custody for almost a year, but was placed under house arrest in mid-September 2022. When the verdict was announced, she was taken into custody again, Viasna reported.

A district court in Minsk sentenced public activist Mikałaj Arciuchoŭ to two-and-a-half years in prison. Judge Natalla Dziadkova convicted him for calling for protests on social media in 2020, Viasna said.

Mikałaj Kacura from Homiel was sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison and fined 3,200 rubels (some $1,300). Judge Alaksandr Mocharaŭ of a district court in Homiel found him guilty of discrediting Belarus for commenting on VK about a shootout between IT professional Andrej Zielcer and KGB officer Dźmitryj Fiedasiuk, Viasna reported.

Harsher punishment

Law enforcers transfer a Baranavičy blogger, political prisoner Dźmitryj Cimafiejeŭ, from an open-type correctional facility to a prison for three-and-a-half months, as ruled by a district court in Viciebsk. Cimafiejeŭ was kept in a punishment cell for at least 70 days, and his health seriously deteriorated, Viasna reported.

Special proceedings

Investigative Committee Chairman Dźmitryj Hara announced special proceedings against Ściapan Puciła, a co-founder and editor of the Nexta Telegram channel, and Stanisłaŭ Łupanosaŭ, the former officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ organized crime unit GUBOPiK who resigned after the 2020 presidential election. The Investigative Committee says Puciła coordinated organization of protests, SB.by wrote. Łupanosaŭ was charged with attempted terrorism and unauthorized handling of data.

Extremist lists

On November 18, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added 97 names to its register of people involved in extremist activities. The total figure now stands at 1,881.

Belarusian courts labeled as “extremist content” five electronic issues of the Slovo Belorusov underground newspaper, Telegram channels Mediki s Narodom (Viciebsk), Pravo na Vosstaniye, Tekhas Dlya Zhizni. Lida, Telegram chats Nezavisimyy Profsoyuz Gomyelya, Devyatovko, Grodno, and the song “Baťko Nash – Bandera, Ukraina – Maty.”

As of November 18, human rights defenders identified at least 1,427 political prisoners.